Gründungsfest Nov. 19 at Loves Park City Hall

Get your polka on at the German Society’s Gründungsfest celebration from 5 p.m. to midnight, Saturday, Nov. 19, at Loves Park City Hall, 100 Heart Blvd., Loves Park.

The public is invited to partake in a fun night of dancing, music and German food.

If you didn’t get enough fun at the 47th Annual Oktoberfest, the German Society is making it possible for all to enjoy another great night of German fun. Featured will be Barefoot Becky and the Ivanhoe Dutchmen entertaining from 7 p.m. to midnight, a traditional German dinner, polka dancing and performances by the German Society’s Bavarian Folk Dance Troupe, D’Waldstadttänzer.

Doors open to the public at 5 p.m. with a traditional German dinner of schnitzel, German potato salad, sauerkraut and dessert served at 6 p.m. A cash bar will be open at 5 p.m. serving German and domestic beers, along with an assortment of German and Austrian wines. Cost is $10 for admission at the door, and the optional German dinner is available for an additional $9.

Gründungsfest is a celebration that marks the anniversary of the club’s beginnings, along with a celebration of the founding of German Society’s D’Waldstadttänzer dance troupe, which began in November 1989. This year marks the 47th anniversary of the German Society of Rockford and the 22nd anniversary of the Bavarian Folk Dance Troupe.

Along with Gründungsfest, the German Society of Rockford hosts different events yearly that are open to the public and showcase German heritage and culture. For more details, call German Society President Toni Beck at (815) 877-4156.